Toyota Australia recall: Over 2k Corolla vehicles have faulty airbags

An Auto worker loads bodyshells of a Toyota Camry Hybrid car onto the assembly line at the Toyota plant in Melbourne August 31, 2009.
Reuters/Mick Tsikas

About 2,121 vehicles in Australia are set for a safety recall by Toyota Australia due to a faulty airbag. The car manufacturer announced on Thursday that it would initiate recall on Corolla vehicles produced from April 2004 to February 2007.

Toyota has explained that the recall was due to a condition affecting the airbag electronic control unit (ECU), which could lead to electrical shorting and therefore damage the circuits in the vehicles’ system. This could cause airbag warning lights to illuminate, and the front airbag(s) and seatbelt pretensioners to become deactivated or cause them to inadvertently deploy.

The company said it was still preparing the replacement parts of the recall. It did not say when the parts would be ready, but it was expecting to start the recall in the first quarter of 2019. It would replace the airbag electronic control unit free of charge.

Toyota Australia also said that over half of the vehicles affected by this recall were also affected by future Takata recalls, which were for front driver or front passenger airbag infiltrators manufactured by Takata. And so if applicable, Toyota dealers will also replace the front passenger Takata airbag infiltrator when owners brought their affected Corollas for repair.

According to the company, there have been no incidents or injuries reported in Australia as a result of the faulty airbag ECU condition.

In May, there had been more than 1 million cars in Australia that were called for recall because of their defective Takata airbags. These vehicles included the Mercedes Benz C Class, Audi A5, Ford Mondeo, Volkswagen Gold and Toyota Yaris.